Pool leakdetection.

Is it a leak, or just evaporation?

Every pool loses some water. In a hot, dry, windy stretch of an Ohio summer, a quarter of an inch a day to evaporation is normal, and splashing and backwashing take more. A leak is water you lose on top of that, day after day, whatever the weather does.

Before you call anyone, do the bucket test. It costs nothing and takes a day.

1. Set a bucket on the first or second step and fill it with pool water until the water inside the bucket is level with the pool.
2. Mark the water line inside the bucket, and mark the pool's water line on the skimmer or tile.
3. Run the pump as normal for 24 hours, without topping up and without anyone swimming.
4. Compare the two drops. The bucket shows you evaporation. If the pool dropped noticeably more than the bucket, you have a leak.
5. Repeat it with the pump off. If the pool loses more with the pump running, the leak is likely in the plumbing. If it loses the same either way, look at the pool itself.

Where pools usually leak

• The skimmer. Where the skimmer meets the pool wall is one of the most common leak points on any pool.
• Fittings in the wall. Return jets, light niches and anything else that passes through the wall.
• The main drain at the bottom of the pool.
• Underground plumbing between the pool and the equipment, especially after a hard winter or a bad closing.
• The equipment pad. Pump seals, filter valves, unions and the heater. Look for wet concrete or a drip under the pump.
• The pool surface itself: a tear in a vinyl liner, or a crack in a concrete or fiberglass shell.

Why it is worth finding fast

A leak costs more than the water. Constant top-ups dilute your chemistry, so you spend more on chemicals. Water escaping under the deck or around the pool can wash out the soil that supports them. On a fiberglass pool, a leak that drops the water below the skimmer is a real problem: the water is what holds the shell down, which we explain in Can I empty a fiberglass pool?

What to do right now

• Keep the water at the middle of the skimmer opening, so the pump never runs dry.
• Do not drain the pool to look for the leak.
• Do the bucket test, and write down how much the pool loses a day, pump on and pump off.
• Check the equipment pad for water while the pump runs.
• Call us with what you found.

Our guarantee

We find it or you don't pay. That is the whole promise, and it is why we would rather be called early than after a summer of top-ups. Call (614) 714-1024 for a price and the first day we can be there.